Can I get enzymes in medicine?

Answer by  jsmith (2067)

You can't get an enzyme in anything you take orally. By definition, an enzyme is any protein in the body that catalyzes(speeds up) chemical reactions without being consumed itself. As a protein, your body would denature the enzymes with acid and its own digestive enzymes and then would break them all into their component parts, amino acids, before absorption.

Answer by  BrighamMSIV (229)

People with pancreatic insufficiency have to receive exogenous pancreatic enzymes to digest food. However, many enzymes will simply be inactivated by the acid in the stomach and digested-in-the-GI-tract.